Do extra-terrestrials exist? I'd be more surprised if they didn't. More and more as we find life in so-called "inhospitable" environments, we're learning that the universe seems inclined to produce rather than to not produce life.
I think we will find extra-terrestrial microbial life this century and quite probably within our own solar system. We may already have found evidence of ancient microbial fossils on Mars and the environmental conditons on Jupiter's mooon, Europa are a compelling argument. I think it's only a matter of time before we find evidence of intelligent life outside our own solar system.
The benefits of a conclusive discovery will be far reaching. The possibilities to expand human understanding are phenomenal. I think the dangers of a conclusive discovery lie mostly within human psychology. Many people of some fundamental faiths will have to face unpleasant truths while others may be vindicated. Misunderstanding and fear are our worst enemies.
Personally, I run seti@home because it is a project that allows the whole of humanity to act as a team in search of something valuable while fostering friendly competition. The project should be continued indefinitely and we should expand our search to include the southern hemisphere.
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.
